Falling to Pieces
by 123fizzi
Summary: Everyone knows marriage life is hard. But what they didn't know was that theirs would fall apart. Taking time apart, Percy and Annabeth think it over and slowly recall the reasons why they fell in love. Will everything be alright again?


**A/N: Hello! :)**

**This fanfic is dedicated to my fabulous friends, Vanessa and Valerie (Rainbowlollipop and Cookie Puppy respectively), darling Belle (sparkz99) and awesome sauce Alison (sugarplop) B) I love you all :D**

**Some reviewers have pointed out that I wrote words such as "realized" as "realised". The spelling isn't incorrect. "Realized" is American while "realised" is British, and my country follows the British spelling.**

**Riight. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"Oh, just leave it. We both know how you really feel."

"Like you're any different."

"At least we've stopped kidding ourselves."

"You know what? I'm sick of it too. I'm sick of everything!"

"J-just…go."

There used to be overwhelming silence. But at that moment, there had been too many words.

* * *

Even the weather wouldn't cooperate.

Annabeth stared stonily out the window. It was raining. It wasn't pouring, but it was wet enough that no one sane would want to walk to anywhere for leisure. Wordlessly, her finger traced the beads of rain on the glass, glistening in the light. A droplet slid down the glass and merged with another. Annabeth's mouth turned up the slightest bit. That was what being with Percy felt like. They would become one together.

Thinking of Percy, her mood soured once again. She jerked her hand back from the window like it had been burnt.

More raindrops trickled down the glass, over the reflection of herself.

Annabeth refused to cry. She was firm, determined and perfectly capable of handling her emotions. She wasn't weak. Her friends all admired her for being so strong and not succumbing to tears even when her world as she knew it was in tatters.

So why did her heart feel like it was in two?

* * *

Marriage life was hard.

_Honk! Honk!_

A long line of cars trailed in front of him. Without looking in the rear view mirror, Percy knew that there was an equally long line behind him as well. It was raining- it wasn't pouring, exactly, but the rain was getting heavier by the minute. Everyone was either holing up inside enjoying a warm cup of hot chocolate, or, if they wanted to go somewhere, travelling in their cars, protected from the growing ferocity of the rain.

Percy seriously regretted taking this route. He had known it was bound to be jammed, but he had been (foolishly) hoping that Lady Luck would be on his side. And Annabeth was always going on about this 'reverse psychology' of hers. No doubt, if she was here, she'd moan and roll her eyes about how stupid and Seaweed Brain-ish he was being, and then feel guilty and give him a little kiss… or two.

Thinking about that, a smile flickered over Percy's lips, only to be extinguished as quickly as a flame. It hurt him so much. Why had everything been reduced to this pathetic state?

His head dropped onto the driving wheel. It wasn't like the traffic jam would suddenly miraculously clear up and give him a chance to actually drive anyway. He clutched the steering wheel, resting his head on his knuckles, gripping so hard that they were slowly turning white.

What _had_ happened?

He desperately tried to clutch at any happy memories. Only dark ones clouded his mind right now. He brushed them aside, despairingly shaking off the dark thoughts which clung on obstinately. At last, he managed to remember something. In his mind, it was glowing brighter by the minute. Brighter, almost duped himself into thinking it would be all he needed to make everything alright again. It wasn't, but at least it was a start. Maybe if he managed to remember enough, everything would be alright again.

It had been raining that day, too.

* * *

They were on their first date.

"_Aren't you supposed to be the son of Poseidon? Work your powers already!"_

_Percy laughed, pushing Annabeth, who simply pushed him back, harder._

"_They don't work too well with rain," Percy explained. "Something to do with it not being water of the sea."_

"_But rain _is _water from the sea," Annabeth argued. "It has to do with the water cycle."_

"_Yeesh, Wise Girl, could you get any more…"_

"_Scholarly?" Annabeth grinned. "Alright, I'll stop outsmarting you. Anyway, we all know who wins at that game."_

_Percy rolled his eyes._

_"You're cute when you act smart," he smiled. Then he blushed slightly. "I mean, you look good when you do… uh, that is, you are cute and all, and you act smart- I mean, you are smart…"_

_He suddenly stopped. He was suddenly aware of how close he was to Annabeth, how they were leaning in, their faces inches apart…_

_"Shut up and kiss me," Annabeth instructed._

_And Percy obeyed._

* * *

It hadn't been their first kiss, but for some reason, that kiss in the rain had stayed in Annabeth's mind, carefully preserved among her sweet memories. She could remember almost every detail- she definitely remembered getting wet- no, soaked- by the rain and how the rain pelted on her, making her hair cling to her head. She remembered the way Percy's laugh sounded, that cute blush that formed as he was embarrassed.

And of course she remembered the kiss. Kissing in the rain- how cliché.

Annabeth blinked, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Hastily, she got up and took her umbrella. A walk would clear her mind.

And maybe even bring back some more good memories.

* * *

Percy had all but given up on the hope that the traffic jam would clear up. He simply got out of his car. It wasn't like anyone would be able to drive away with it.

He stretched, embracing the rain. Water- his element. Maybe it wasn't real sea water, but it was still water- the one thing that made sense to him, that listened to him. Why weren't relationships the same?

Percy walked on, allowing himself to get wet. He was only twenty-three. Maybe it had been a mistake to get married so early. They had tied the knot almost a year ago. Had it been such a short time? It seemed like a memory from the distant future… or maybe it wasn't.

But first, he wanted to remember when the cracks in their relationship started appearing, when they started to run out of glue to fill the cracks with.

Without realising, Percy had walked to Debby's Paint Shop. He looked up, and smiled half-heartedly. He could remember the events that had been triggered by simply trying to select the paint scheme for their bedroom.

It had been their first spat after getting married, but everything had been resolved almost immediately after.

Why couldn't their quarrels be solved so easily anymore?

Percy walked away, deep in thought.

* * *

Annabeth was in Debby's Paint Shop where they first fought. She could clearly remember this day. Maybe it wasn't exactly a good memory, but it was the first one that, for some reason, came to her mind when she thought of strolling down their memory lane. She browsed the paint colours, trying to remember which exact shade it was they had each wanted.

Annabeth came to a stop in front of a lovely, deep sea blue. At that time, Percy had fallen in love with this colour and would settle for nothing else for their bedroom colour scheme but this. Annabeth had refused. Percy might like feeling like he was underwater, but Annabeth didn't. It reminded her too much of the time she had nearly been lured to her death by the sirens.

She had never actually told Percy this, but after they made up, Annabeth realised that it didn't matter anymore. What did, however, was the fact that Percy saved her from drowning. And he would be there, right next to her as she slept.

Before he moved out, anyway.

Nowadays, the bed seemed so wide and empty.

* * *

" _Honestly, Seaweed Brain, it's a lovely shade of blue and all, and I know you're the son of Poseidon and everything, but I'm not, I'm a daughter of Athena and I'd rather have a sensible, dark colour- in earthy tones, that would be nice- so we can sleep better."_

"_But that blue colour can work just fine too!" Percy protested. "I don't want earth colours. They're boring."_

"_But that isn't really the point, is it?" Annabeth argued. _

"_I don't understand why everything has to be your way," Percy retorted._

_Instantly, he regretted it._

_Annabeth's grey eyes turned stormy and darkened- they were almost black._

_"If you want your way, then why did you even marry me? It's not like you don't know there are supposed to be two sides in every marriage. Anyway, I'm not as domineering as some other people you work with, but you always seem to get along fine with them!"_

_"Annabeth, I'm sorry-" Percy tried._

_"Don't waste your apologies on me," Annabeth snapped. "I'm off."_

_She stalked out of the store, fuming. She was so angry she forgot to look where she was going and tripped over a rock. It didn't really hurt, but Annabeth found tears coming to her eyes. Where had they come from? Annabeth Chase didn't cry. She never cried. But now, she found the tears coming to her eyes as easily as she could plan out a building._

_A hand reached out and pulled her up. The hand was so familiar- one she had held onto many times, so many many times. Without looking, Annabeth knew it was Percy's._

_Percy hugged her, and Annabeth realised she was hugging back._

_"I'm sorry," they both whispered._

_"I shouldn't have been so selfish," Percy told her._

_"I shouldn't have been so snappy," Annabeth replied._

_Gradually, the broke away. For no reason at all, they took one look at each other and started laughing._

_"We'll take that colour of blue you wanted," Annabeth offered on their way back to the store._

_"Nah, we'll take a colour in earthy tones or whatever you want," Percy smiled._

_"How about this? We'll take both colours and paint half of the bedroom blue, and half of it in earthy colours," Annabeth suggested._

_"Deal," Percy grinned as they entered Debby's Paint Shop. _

* * *

He would never hurt her intentionally. And even if he hurt her accidentally, he'd hurt inside too. But lately, he had done some things- said some things, really, that he knew would hurt her. They both had. They couldn't control themselves- the words would somehow slip out every time. And they could do nothing to stop it.

And yet, hurting the other never hurt any less.

Percy walked to the park. The first thing that caught his eye was a bench.

_Their_ bench.

It was situated under a tree, and it was Percy and Annabeth's favourite bench. They liked to sit on that bench and talk, or simply enjoy each other's company in silence.

Or used to, anyway.

Percy sat on the bench heavily. This had also been the place where they had their first real fight. They had never made up over it, though the tension between them after the fight had gradually decreased, and they had returned to normal again.

Sort of.

Percy could remember it like yesterday.

* * *

_"How's your latest architecture project coming along?" Percy had asked. Not really because he was curious, but mostly because he knew that Annabeth loved to talk about architecture, and he loved hearing her talk so happily about something that she was interested in._

_"Oh, brilliantly!" Annabeth smiled. "My team's working together really well. And Hugh, I just found out he's a son of Hephaestus! No wonder he's so good with designing stuff. Well, we both really hit it off, and-"_

_"Wait a minute," Percy interrupted. "Is this the Hugh that calls you so often? The Hugh that you keep talking about with your contacts?"_

_"Well…" Annabeth trailed off. "Yeah, I suppose, but I'm married to you, aren't I?"_

_"There's no reason to get all defensive," Percy snapped. "It's just that I hear you gushing about him a lot to your architecture friends. Who wouldn't get curious?"_

_"Jealous, you mean," Annabeth retaliated. "Why are you getting so worked up? It's just a work relationship! There's nothing going on between us!"_

_Hearing these words, Percy cooled a little bit, preparing to say sorry, but Annabeth was on a roll… and she said some things maybe she shouldn't have._

_"I wish you were a little more like Hugh. He's patient and understanding. I don't understand you at all! Why are you so jealous?"_

_"Oh, so now you wish that I was someone else, do you?" Percy retorted, bitter. "Well, fine by me. Maybe I'll find someone else who appreciates me for who I am!"_

_He got up and walked off._

* * *

Annabeth knew that at that day, maybe she should have gotten up and chased after him, to tell him that no, it wasn't like that, there really was nothing going on between Hugh and her and that she did appreciate her Seaweed Brain. But they were both too proud, and they let their pride affect their relationship.

Looking back, she realised that all those arguments, those hurtful words, those nights spent crying into her pillow, those nights holing up in her room, were all for nothing. Everything they had ever argued about was simply a misunderstanding.

She needed to go to a place where she could get comfort.

Their bench.

* * *

Percy didn't know whether to laugh, or cry.

It was so stupid! Why had they ever fought? Why had they let misunderstandings blur their vision and make them stop seeing the truth, even when it was right in front of them?

Why had they let those misunderstandings break them up?

If only he could say sorry. If only she would come and find him, and they could talk it all over, like they kind of had that day at Debby's Paint Shop.

If only.

* * *

Annabeth strode to the park. The rain had subsided. There was a fresh, cool atmosphere that cleared out Annabeth's mind. She looked for their bench- the one that she had shared with Percy so many times, the one that they had almost carved their names on until Annabeth remembered that it was vandalising and therefore against the law.

When she saw who was already sitting there, her breath got caught in her throat.

She stopped and stared, paralysed.

Percy's eyes met hers.

Both their jaws fell open, and Percy's mouth formed a little 'O'.

Annabeth couldn't take it. It hurt so much. Maybe she wasn't brave enough, because she just couldn't stand the thought of going up to him. She so badly wanted to apologise, but she didn't know how.

Which was why she turned and started to run.

* * *

Percy couldn't believe it. Annabeth was right there, a little while in front of him!

It didn't really surprise him when she started to run away. Somehow, he had understood all those unsaid words between them in that moment. Her desperate eyes, a plea for forgiveness, yet there was still that cold wall between them, though their sweet memories had somehow made it easier to see through

Percy knew what he had to do. He got up and ran.

And he broke through the cold wall.

* * *

Annabeth, somehow, wasn't at all shocked when she felt a warm hand grab at hers. Instinctively, she knew it was Percy's. He squeezed her hand.

The surprising thing was?

She squeezed it back.

Slowly, she felt him turning her around. She flinched slightly and shut her eyes, but gradually she opened them and stared into Percy, who was staring at her unblinkingly.

They say that eyes are the windows into a person's soul. Maybe it's true, because at that moment, everything that had made them forget what it felt like to be in love with each other fell apart, and they understood.

It was so familiar to have those warm arms around her shoulders. She lay her head on his shoulder as they hugged, and she cried.

They both cried.

There was no need for words, but they said them anyway.

"I'm sorry," they both whispered. Just like the time outside Debby's Paint Shop.

Usually, those two simple words were never enough.

This time, they were.

**A/N: Hey! I'm finally done with it! It's long, isn't it? :)**

**Did you like it? I hope you did. It was rather tough to write this, but I tried my best anyway. Please review and tell me what you thought of it :)**


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